The Caps to Cap Haiti Project: A partnership with Konbit Sante

(Photo courtesy of Konbit Sante, in the Haitian area where Safe Birthing Kits will be distributed.)

Mama to Mama is honored to introduce our first project. The Caps to Cap Haiti Project: A Partnership with Konbit Sante, will initially provide newborn jersey caps to be distributed in Safe Birthing Kits in northern Haiti.

I invite you to join me in sharing your creativity, time and energy to aid our Caribbean sisters. Our life circumstances may be so very different from one another, but as women and mothers, we share so very much in common - the most basic being our desire to keep our children safe. Please read on to find out how you can contribute to this project in a simple but meaningful way.

In northern Haiti:

• Just 1 in 5 women receives medical care during childbirth.
• Haiti has the highest maternal mortaility ratio in the northern hemisphere.
• 1 in 16 women will die as a result of pregnancy complications, unsafe abortion, or obstetrical emergency.
• Twenty percent of children die before the age of 5.

About This Project:

Konbit Sante is a Maine-based volunteer partnership working to save lives and improve health care in northern Haiti. In Haitian Creole, a Konbit is a traditional method of working together to till your friends' and neighbors fields as well as your own - a cooperative effort. Sante means health. The name defines their committment to address the staggering health problems in northern Haiti where most last basic care and live without running water.

One aspect of their work involves OB/GYN care . Konbit Sante is working to assemble Safe Birthing Kits to be distributed by trained birth attendants in the desperately poor Fort St. Michelle city of Cap Haitien. These kits - consisting of plastic sheeting, Purelle, a sterile piece of string and razor blade, and a baby cap - have the potential to significantly reduce infant and maternal mortality.   

What You Can Do:

Download the Caps to Cap PDF, where you'll find the pattern for an infant cap. The cap should be sewn from cotton jersey - found most readily in t-shirts.

Deadline:

While the intent is to create an ongoing relationship with Konbit Sante and the mothers of Northern Haiti, the initial goal is to gather as many caps for the Safe Birthing Kits as we can by October 31st, 2008.

Mail your finished hats to:
        Mama to Mama
        c/o SouleMama
        PO Box 8190
        Portland, ME 04104

Thank you for your interest and help in this project!

Amanda
MamatoMama.org